Page 19 - Sentinel June 2017

BEARY Continued from page 18 We black bears are shy and almost always will run away from
you. Rarely do we attack. If we do, fight back.
not one of them. Sorry for throwing up on your driveway after
my recent dairy binge. If you don’t want me to consume your Send your stories, pictures, comments and questions to me:
milk and dairy deliveries, consider trading in the white box for wisebeary@gmail.com
a small camping cooler. Until next time, always be bear wise and bear safe.

Be Bear S.M.A.R.T.
Here’s a bear safety exercise review for your kid cubs. Your friend in the ferns,
Beary
Question: What should you do if a bear gets too close to you and
you are scared? Answer: Just remember to be bear S.M.A.R.T.
TO LIVE AMONG THE RED ROCKS...
S = Stop, do not run. If you do, we may chase you – and al- Karen Dale...
though we don’t look like it, we are much faster on our four
paws than you are on your two feet. All along the front range, there are
M= Make yourself look big. Slowly raise your hands up over spectacular outcroppings of “the
your head and stand tall. Let the bear know you are not some- red rocks”—Garden of the Gods
one who should be messed with just like you do with your little in Colorado Springs, Perry Park
brother or sister. and Roxborough Park in Douglas
A = Announce loudly and repeat several times – “Leave me County, Red Rocks Amphitheater
alone, bear.” This lets us bears know you are a person and alerts west of Denver, and the Flatirons of
other people in the area that you may need help. Boulder.
R = Retreat – back slowly away from the bear. Do not look the
bear directly in the eyes. In animal world, direct eye contact In geology these rocks make up the Fountain Formation. The
means you are challenging the animal, not trying to be friendly Fountain Formation is mostly made of arkose, a sandstone
like on the school playground. which is twenty-five percent feldspar. It is from the high con-
T = Tell an adult immediately. centration of arkose and the oxidation of iron in the minerals
that the red rocks get their reddish color. In simpler terms, they
are rusted sandstone.

They are also very old. They are older than the Rocky Moun-
tains.

Over three hundred million years ago, the middle part of North
American was a vast inland sea. The Fountain Formation—
sandstone—was laid down in that period. Then three hundred
million years ago, a series of subductions began the process that
Say hello to summer formed the Rockies. As the mountains rose, the seas subsided,
with unlimited yoga classes and the sandstone at the bottom of the sea was pushed to the
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emergence of the Rocky Mountains pushed older sediments up
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We are all awed by the size and grandeur of the Rocky Moun-
Contact Sandy at Full Circle Larkspur to register tains, but all around us are the red rocks whose age eclipses
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vast swaths of time.

Full Circle Larkspur Some of us see the red rocks daily and think nothing of them as
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Continued on page 20
Perry Park Sentinel June 2017 - Page 19